Lucas Gradeur
This article contains unmarked spoilers to Acts 2 and 5, and the Epilogue of Rise of the Spartans. "The time has come for humans to rise; for ''SPARTANS ''to rise. This war is ours." Commander Lucas Gradeur, known more commonly as Archangel, was the Captain of the UNSC Midsummer Night after he betrayed the former captain, Sev. Archangel is portrayed by Jon Michael Villagomez. History Early naval career From the start, Archangel was destined to be captain of the UNSC Midsummer Night and was the selected officer for the position. By the end of its construction, he had taken each command test and met each qualification - however, the ship's construction met a delay. Only the financial backing of Sev brought life back to the project, but Sev would also be given command of the vessel with none of the qualifications that Archangel had. As a result of Sev's intervention, the Midsummer Night was successfully commissioned but Archangel was forced to assume the role of Executive Officer. Mutiny During an apparently failed deployment against a Covenant invasion, Archangel initiated a plan to take control of the ship from Sev. Gradeur would falsely invoke the UNSC's Cole Protocol to draw Sev away from the escape vehicle, which he and another marine would use to abandon Sev on the surface of the planet at the Covenant's mercy. Upon returning to the Midsummer Night, Archangel told the crew that Sev could not make it back, which while technically truthful, led to the assumption that he had died. Arrival at Halo Through the pursuit of a Covenant SDV-class heavy corvette, Archangel was unwittingly responsible for the arrival of the Midsummer Night to Halo, upon which the bombardment from a Covenant corvette prompted the order to abandon ship. Of the bases established across the ring's surface, Archangel's suffered from being cornered between a Covenant brigade and the open ocean. To make matters worse, their only Scorpion tank was damaged. First Battle of the Valley The first sign of the stalemate being broken was the arrival of David-617 ("Nightflash"), at the valley. Archangel, eager for the aid of a SPARTAN, led him back to the base camp and explained the dilemma that the UNSC forces were faced with on the ring's surface. A brief tour of the canyon later would lead to a clash between the Covenant and Marine forces, the former only pushed back by a large squad of marines armed with rocket launchers. The pair would also be confronted by a heavily injured and cyborg Sev, who incapacitated Nightflash and attempted to move on Archangel. Although Nightflash and Archangel successfully fought him off, the latter refused to give details on who Sev was and why he was spying on them. Later, Randy-806 ("Ocelot"), another member of Nightflash's squad, arrived from imprisonment at a Covenant base escorted by T'kan Ghanee ("Raptor"). Archangel's skepticism of an Elite's (specifically Raptor's, who had hunted him before) cooperation with a human led to tensions between him and Ocelot, though his doubts only ever went as far as eavesdropping - an act that Raptor quickly caught onto with some amusement. Once the battalion's Scorpion tank had been fully repaired, Archangel ordered a major assault on the Covenant blockade at the other end of the valley. Despite considerable marine casualties, the battle resulted in a major UNSC victory thanks to Archangel's specialized units, the Scorpion's cover fire, and most prominently, the aid of Ocelot and Nightflash. As the battalion began to move out of the valley, their vehicle column was attacked by a returning Sev bearing a grenade launcher. Both Archangel and Ocelot hurried to stop him from his position atop a cliffside, but the ensuing scuffle threw Ocelot over the other side of the cliff in an explosion. As a result, Archangel apologized for getting him involved in the matter, but would not provide details - oblivious that Ocelot already knew. That evening, the battalion adopted a Forerunner base built into the nearby island's mountain as their primary base of operations. The following morning, Archangel's luck would be further improved by the arrival of Clyde-213 ("Swift"), Maria-316 ("Whisper"), and Romero-024 ("Brass") - the remainder of Nightflash's squad, as well as Mark, a considerably skilled marine. This was further bolstered by the arrival of Eagle Squadron, the air detachment of the Midsummer Night. Although the concept of uniting all UNSC forces on the ring sparked an argument of practicality, the improvements in the battalion's situation made Archangel receptive to throwing a party in the mountain base's assembly room. The approach of a Covenant assault force the following morning nearly took the waking forces by surprise, though Archangel was still able to call the marines and Spartans to an organized defense. First Battle of the Island and Forerunner Facility Raid The Covenant assault was successfully repelled by the combined forces of the marines, Spartans, and Eagle Squadron, resulting in a large group of Elite Minors and some Majors being taken prisoner in the mountain base's detention level. The suddenness of the attack, however, and its closeness to the Spartans' and Eagle Squadron's arrival sparked another argument between the leadership of the battalion. To Archangel's dismay, the argument was only defused by the arrival of Sev. Reluctantly, Archangel allowed SDU Kilo to undertake a mission based on information that Sev had provided; he later decided to go with them, joining Nightflash, Swift, and Sev in a raid on a nearby Forerunner facility. This willingness would only prove to be Archangel's undoing, as he and Sev split up from the Spartans to discuss their grudges; unbeknownst to him, Sev had been leading him into a trap the entire time. Death :"I've told my story, and today, it ends. I have written my last line, yet I... I sense something greater. As I exit the stage, I am just part of some greater act; one that shall never end." By the time Archangel discovered Sev's treachery, he was surrounded by a lance of Elites led by Sahjook - a situation invoked by Sev due to his own situation years before. However, Archangel came to calmly accept his fate and responded to Sev's apology with one of his own. As the Elites executed him, Lucas Gradeur gave a final monologue to indicate his peace before succumbing to plasma fire. Revival Two weeks after the Halo ring's regeneration array was fired, Archangel is seen alive and well with the other marines preparing to come aboard Rahgath's corvette, controlled by allied Sangheili forces at that point. During the voyage home, Archangel admitted his actions to Perseus and Scarecrow - dryly noting that the Midsummer Night he had done so much to become captain of had been destroyed - before meeting Sev once more and apologizing for what he had done. With their parting words, Archangel volunteered to help Sev and Sahjook depart the corvette despite the initial anger of Ooskoo, the vessel's new captain. Upon returning to Earth and arriving in New Mombasa, Archangel was called for a debriefing but was not made to cite his actions concerning Sev, as the latter had decided it was in the past. Both he and Sev would be remembered by the UNSC as captains of the Midsummer Night. Personality One of Archangel's most prominent traits is his penchant for theatrics - his dying monologue is even an allusion to theatre. As captain of the Midsummer Night, Archangel frequently gave rousing speeches to prepare his soldiers for battle, or moving dedications to encourage them to celebrate. Typically, Archangel was fairly stoic in his interactions; he would refuse to share information about Sev at any point and could come off as rather harsh and cynical at times. His skepticism towards T'kan Ghanee was a factor to the tensions between him and Ocelot. However, Archangel continued to operate well with Ocelot in battle in spite of their ideological differences and held a soft spot for Fido, another Sangheili. His loyalty to the troopers under his command was undeniable; during the First Battle of the Island, Archangel killed at least half a dozen Elites to keep Mark safe. This concern for his marines was also reflected in his eagerness to throw a celebration for them to relax. Despite his ambition and willingness to betray Sev in order to become chief officer of the Midsummer Night, Archangel came to regret it once he realized the effect that his actions had on the former captain. As a result he accepted his execution as payment for his sins, and remained openly apologetic to Sev after being revived. Trivia *Archangel's laugh is speculated to be an "Uhuhuhuhuhuhuh"-like bleating sound. *In 2013, a participant in the filming of Rise of the Spartans, Archangel Lucas, falsely claimed to be the voice actor for Archangel. Jon Michael Villagomez disproved the claim. *In Part 9/Epilogue, Archangel mentions becoming an assassin; a captain of assassins. This is an allusion to another of Villagomez's roles as the titular protagonist of the machinima Captain Assassin. *Archangel's rank would appear to be Captain, although he proclaims that he is not a Captain without the Midsummer Night. This suggests that his rank is Commander, as the commanding officers of vessels are referred to as captains regardless of rank. Category:UNSC Category:UNSC Midsummer Night Category:Senior Officer